Living With Low Vision

At Trendy Eyes Optometry, we offer comprehensive eye care for all types of patients; young patients, more mature patients, and patients with unique eye care needs. We believe everyone deserves access to the best possible eye care. That includes patients with limited eyesight. We’re pleased to offer specific eye care services for patients experiencing low vision.

What is Low Vision?

Low vision refers to any condition causing significantly impaired eyesight that can’t be improved with corrective lenses, medication, or surgery. According to the National Federation of the Blind, 75,000 people become blind or severely visually impaired every year. This visual impairment could include tunnel vision (loss of peripheral vision), blind spots, or loss of acuity.

What Causes Low Vision

Low vision can occur as the result of a number of conditions. These include:

Legal Blindness

Legal blindness is a term sometimes used to describe patients who experience low vision. These patients can typically still see to some extent; however it’s not usually enough to allow them to drive or perform other specific tasks on their own.

The fractions used to measure acuity (such as 20/20) describe how well a patient can see at various distances. The top number refers to how far the patient is from the vision chart at the time of the examination (typically 20 feet.) The bottom number corresponds to a certain row of letters on the acuity chart.

For example, the top row is 200, so if you can see the top row of the acuity chart but cannot make out any of the other rows, you have 20/200 vision. The line that corresponds to 20 (or 20/20 vision) indicates average vision.

Low Vision Exams

Because patients with low vision do not see the same way an average patient would, it hardly makes sense to perform the same exam on low vision patients that we would perform on patients with average vision.

We offer a special exam, tailored to patients experiencing low vision. Through this specialized exam, we can more accurately measure what our patients can see, and track any potential changes to their vision.

We will also take the time to answer any questions the patient may have, and discuss strategies for living day-to-day with low vision.

Visit Our Manhattan Beach Location

Discover Trendy Eyes Optometry today a block and a half from the pier on Manhattan Beach Boulevard, just past Starbucks as you walk down to the pier.